New Palestinian militia surfaces in northern West Bank
The new group, Battalion of Martyr Omar Abu Laila, is named after a terrorist who shot and stabbed a soldier and a civilian near Ariel, killing them.
A new armed group has been established in the city of Salfit in the northern West Bank, where a number of similar militias have been operating over the past year.
The new group, Battalion of Martyr Omar Abu Laila, is named after a Palestinian who carried out a shooting and stabbing attack near Ariel, killing two Israelis, a soldier and a civilian.
On March 17, 2019, Abu Laila stabbed Sgt. Gal Keidan at the Ariel junction, grabbed the soldier’s gun and opened fire, hitting Rabbi Achiad Ettinger, who succumbed to his wounds a day later.
Abu Laila was later killed in an exchange of fire with IDF forces.
Senior Palestinian Authority officials and leaders of the ruling Fatah faction have since praised Abu Laila for carrying out the attack, and a memorial was erected for him in the village of Abwein near Ramallah where he hid before he was killed.
The group announces its establishment
In a statement announcing the establishment of the new group on Sunday, the Battalion of Martyr Omar Abu Laila said its “soldiers were preparing many surprises that would shake the brutal [Israeli] entity.”
Addressing Israelis, the group said in a statement published by the Palestinian Khabar Press news agency: “Torment is coming to you. The battalion will stay and expand in Salfit and its [surrounding] villages.”
The Battalion will stay and expand in Salfit and its [surrounding] villages.”
Similar groups that have been operating in the northern West Bank, specifically Nablus, and Jenin, include the Lions’ Den, Jenin Battalion, Nablus Battalion, and Balata Battalion.
The groups consist of dozens of gunmen affiliated with various factions, including Fatah, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
A similar group recently popped up in the city of Tulkarm, also in the northern West Bank. The group, called Tulkarm Battalion-Rapid Response, was responsible for a series of shooting attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers in the area.
Its founder and commander, Amir Abu Khadijeh, 25, was killed by Israeli troops last week in the village of Ezbet Shufeh, east of Tulkarm. Khadijeh was affiliated with Fatah’s armed group, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.
The PA security forces have thus far refrained from taking real measures to rein in the armed groups. According to Palestinian sources, a number of armed groups have also surfaced in other areas of the West Bank, including Bethlehem and Hebron.
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